Konark Magnificent Sun Temple | Wishesh Oct Magazine

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Indian Travelogue

KonarkMagnificent Sun Temple

Indian Travelogue


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Indian Travelogue

Konark is situated at a comfortable distance from the famous religious and tourist centre of Puri (35 K.M.) and the capital city of Bhubaneswar (65 K.M.) in the state of Orissa, India.

How to reach

Air: Bhubaneswar airport is the nearest airport with a number of flights connecting Konark with Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Chennai.

Rail: the railway stations at Konark is well linked

with almost all the major destinations in India by regular trains.

Road: An extensive road network connects it to the rest of the country via National highways and State highways linking it with Puri, Bhubaneswar and other cities in Odisha (Orissa) and its neighboring states.

Orissa unlike many other parts of India has the prized distinction of possessing an uninterrupted series of temples illustrating the history of the well-defined Kalinga (former name of Orissa) from its very inception to decline, and the Sun Temple of Konark

marks the highest point of achievement.

Konark, the seat of the World famous Sun Temple is located in the District of Puri, forms one of the three points of the “Golden Triangle of Tourism” in the State of Orissa, the other two being Bhubaneswar, the city of Temples and Puri, the abode of Lord Jagannath.

This Temple chariot of the Sun God on the golden sands of the Bay of Bengal is a 13th Century architectural marvel. Today Konark is not merely a symbol of Orissa’s great architectural craftsmanship, but also the most sought after centre of attraction for tourists all over the World. Its serene atmosphere coupled with a quiet, but majestic seashore is regarded as an ideal place for holidaying by domestic as well as foreign tourists.

On the eastern sea coast is the ruins of a temple, exquisitely built to resemble a gigantic chariot with impeccably carved wheels, columns and panels. It

stands as a mute reminder of the times when Orissan architecture has reached its pinnacle.

History

King Narasimha Deva-I of the Ganga Dynasty had ordered this temple to be built as a royal proclamation of the political supremacy of his dynasty. A workforce of 12 hundred artisans and architects invested their creative talent, energy and artistic commitment for an exhausting period of 12 years. The king had already spent an amount equivalent to the state’s revenue receipts of 12 years. However

the completion of the construction was nowhere near sight. Then the king issued a final command that the work be completed by a stipulated date. The team of architects headed by Bisu Maharana was at its wit’s end. It was then that Dharmapada the 12 year old son of the chief architect Bisu Maharana arrived there as a visiting onlooker. He became aware of the anxiety looming large among the architects. Although he did not have any practical experience of temple construction, he was thorough in his study of the theories of temple architecture. He offered to solve the confounding

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Sensuality in Konark


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problem of fixing the last coping stone at the top of the temple. He surprised everyone by doing that himself. But soon after this achievement the dead body of this adolescent prodigy was found on the sea beach at the foot of the temple.The most popular cause of the destruction of this magnificent temple rests with the Kalapahad for the fall of Konark temple. According to the history of Orissa, Kalapahad invaded Orissa in 1568. Including Konark temple, he had also destroyed a number of Hindu temples in Orissa. It is described in the Madala Panji of Puri Jagannath temple that Kalapahad attacked Orissa in 1568 and it was an evil hour for Orissa. Including Konark temple, he broke most of the images in most of the Hindu temples in Orissa. Though it was impossible to break the Sun temple of Konark, the stone walls of which are of 20 to 25 feet thick he somehow managed to displace the Dadhinauti (Arch stone) and thus made a way for the temple to collapse. He also broke most of the images and other side temples of Konark. Due to the displacement of the Dadhinauti, the temple

gradually collapsed and the roof of the Mukhasala also got damaged due to the stroke of the stones falling down from the temple top.

Consequent upon, Orissa came under the Muslim administration in 1568 and there were constant attempts to destroy the Hindu temples. The Pandas of Puri, to save the sanctity of the Puri temple, took away the Lord Jagannath from the Srimandir and kept the image in a secret place. Similarly, it is said that the

“Consequent upon, Orissa came under the Muslim administration in 1568 and there were constant attempts to destroy the Hindu temples. The Pandas of Puri, to save the sanctity of the Puri temple, took away the Lord Jagannath from the Srimandir and kept the image in a secret place. “

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The Black Pagoda

Indian Travelogue

Pandas of Konark took away the presiding deity of the Sun temple out of the temple and put under sand for some years. Latter the said image was taken to Puri and kept in the temple of Indra in the compound of the Puri Jagannath temple. According to others, the Puja image of the Konark temple is yet to be discovered. But some hold the view that the Sun image now kept in the National Museum, Delhi was the presiding deity of the Konark Sun temple.

The Black Pagoda

The main Temple was called by European sailors “The Black Pagoda” as it formed an important landmark for them in their coastal voyage. Contrasting to this, the white washed Temple of Lord Jagannath at Puri was known as the white pagoda.

Legends

“Konarka”, the place bears a name composed of two World elements: Kona means corner and Arka meaning the Sun. The Sun god worshipped in Ark Kshetra is also called Konark. In ‘Brahma Purana’ the Sun God in Ark-Kshetra has been described as Konaditya. It is described in Purushotham Mahatmya

that Lord Vishnu after killing the demon Gayasur, to commemorate the glory of his victory, placed his Shankha (conch) in Puri, Chakra (disc) in Bhubaneswar, Gada (mace) in Jajapur and Padma (lotus) in Konark and they were later known as Shankha Kshetra, Chakra Kshetra, Gada Kshetra and Padma Kshetra respectively.

The five supreme Gods worshipped by Hindus were Ganesh (destroyer of obstacles and fulfiller of desires), Vishnu (the cosmic sustainer of the phenomenal universe), Siva (the cosmic destroyer of the universe), Durga (the mother goddess and source of all energies), and the Sun (the life giving energy). They are called Pancha-Devata.

In Orissa there are five different Kshetra or religious centers celebrated for these Pancha Devata viz: Vinayak or Ganesh Kshetra at Maha Vinayak hills in the district of Cuttack, Vishnu or Shankha (the attributes in the hands of Lord Vishnu) Kshetra at Puri, Siva or Ekamra Kshetra at Bhubaneswar, Durga or Viraja Kshetra at Jajpur or Yajanapur

According to mythology, Samba, son of Lord Krishna was smitten with leprosy due to the curse of Lord Krishna. Samba for twelve years underwent severe

penance at Mitravana near the confluence of the Chandrabhaga River with the sea at Konark and ultimately succeeded in pleasing the God Surya, the healer of all skin diseases and was cured of his illness. In gratitude, he decided to erect a temple in the honour of Surya. The day following his cure, while Samba was bathing in the Chandrabhaga he discovered an image of the Sun God, which had been fashioned out of Surya’s body by Viswakarma. Samba installed this image in a temple built by him in Mitravana, where he propitiated the God. Since then throughout the ages this place has been regarded as sacred”.

A shallow pool of water is known as the Chandrabhaga, where even now crowds of pilgrims take bath before sunrise on the seventh day of the bright half of the month of Magha (January-February). A fair also takes place on this occasion. Magha-Saptami is mentioned in the Madala Panji as one of the festival of this holy centre. It is also referred to the Brahma Purnima in connection with the description of Konark.


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On the WallsMayadevi Temple

On the Chakra

Chakra on the Temple

Indian Travelogue

Konark Temple Entrance

Spiritual

Konark Magnificent Sun Temple | Wishesh Oct Magazine